Survey: 72% of Institutional Investors Believe Crypto Prices Would Rise in a Recession

A new survey conducted by Fundstrat Global Advisors has found that 72% of institutional investors believed that cryptocurrency prices would rise in the case of a global recession.

This is mainly due to the belief that non-governmental and retail market-related investments would be seen as a safe haven due to their distance from traditional markets.

The Fundstrat survey results were corroborated by a Twitter survey that found similar results amongst investors, with 59% of respondents claiming that they expect cryptocurrencies to rise during a recession.

Cryptocurrencies are fundamentally tied to an anti-establishment movement that began after the 2008 global financial crisis that reduced global trust in traditional banking systems and governments. It also led to the creation of Bitcoin by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, whose goal was to empower people by allowing them to be their own bank.

Conflicting Opinions on How Cryptocurrency Prices Would Handle a Recession

Despite cryptocurrency’s ties to anti-establishment movements, some analysts disagree with the aforementioned survey results, explaining that because cryptos are seen as high-risk investments, their success is typically tied to periods of times where investors feel comfortable risking their money.

Mati Greenspan, a senior market analyst at eToro, explained that investors should rush to conclusions regarding how the crypto markets would respond to a recession, reports MarketWatch.

“I don’t think it’s so binary. If we look over the past few years crypto have had a unique correlation with high-risk assets. They have risen as investors sought additional risk,” he said.

Despite being cautious in assuming that prices will rise as traditional markets falter, Greenspan also explained that the belief expressed in the Fundstrat and Twitter survey are understandable, saying:

“However, I do see why investors think that. Bitcoin was built on the ashes of the financial crisis to provide an alternative to fiat money run by governments and banks. If there was a catalyst that would make people question the role of these institutions then I can see them moving higher.”

The Fundstrat survey also had a few other interesting conclusions, finding that investors believe governmental and central bank adoption is the main influential factor in the markets, and that the market is incredibly split on the usefulness of XRP, the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Tom Lee, the managing partner at Fundstrat explained that:

“On Twitter, 46% chose XRP as their favorite and 31% said it made “least sense.”—no other token came close. Even 28% of Institutions also said XRP made the least sense and zero institutions picked it as their favorite token.”

The Fundstrat survey was conducted between September 30 and October 3 and consisted of 9,500 responses from investors. The data regarding the institutional views of the cryptocurrency markets was conducted during a dinner event with representatives from 25 financial institutions. However, it remains unclear which institutions were present for this event.